Sky and C5 chiefs sound warning over UK landscape

Sky’s chief content officer Cécile Frot-Coutaz has said demand for studio space in the UK is cooling, as she and Channel 5 president Sarah Rose warned the freelancer crisis will undermine the streamers’ ability to make high-end TV.  

Speaking at the RTS London Convention this morning, Frot-Coutaz said that what she was hearing about the need for studio space had changed within the past two years.  

“A couple of years ago the mood music was that we need a lot more studio space in the UK, but I that is not true anymore,” she said, adding that production volumes haven’t returned as quickly as people thought in the wake of the US strikes.  

“We are starting to see things pick up again a bit, but there is a question mark over how the trend line goes. As an owner of studio space, we are not pessimistic about it but we are certainly cautious for now. Everyone has calmed down a bit from the huge hubris of three years ago.” 

She implored the UK government to continue its “really important” support of the ecosystem through tax breaks and relief on business rates.  

Freelancer crisis 

“We need to be very careful not to tell ourselves things are rosy,” agreed Rose, who is also Paramount’s UK regional lead. 

She warned that the freelancer crisis is going to have a major impact on high-end dramas that are favoured by the streamers, telling them they share the responsibility with the PSBs to combat the crisis. 

She insisted talent comes from the small and medium-sized businesses that the “big spenders” do not tend to work with.  

“We have to keep the grassroots skillset in work so that it is there to grow to work on bigger productions,” she said. “You start on something small, you learn and grow…we have such responsibility as successful streamers as well as national broadcasters to ensure we invest properly in that space.” 

Frot-Coutaz agreed that the cost-of-living crisis and “structural” issues means there is “no question” the local production community has suffered over the last 18 months. 

“The reasons why the UK has the creative edge is because it has this community that has been sustained historically trough the PSBs – it is a specific and rare ecosystem that needs to be protected.”